2026 Season

There is enough talent in the world for every bit of salary cap the sport of rugby league can come up with.

Fiji silktails are a great example. Those guys are incredible athletes. They smash the hell out of the Knights Flegg side when we play them, except on the scoreboard, because they don't know how to play League. I just saw the Bulldogs have signed 4 of them for next year. Offer those guys a 300k contract and they'll work their bums off to get it.

In short, supply and demand, if you show them the money, someone will do the work to get it.
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
Yeah just having a lot of good forwards legit might be enough because so many teams are flat out finding good starters now.

Before the Dolphins came in most of the sides that made the top 8 had a full rotation of good middles plus decent depth behind them. A new team comes in with an empty cap sheet - first they gutted Melbourne, Brisbane and Nth Qld for the most part, but then those teams take good forwards from other clubs to replace them, etc etc etc. And yeah now we’ve reached the point where barely anyone has depth.

So yeah now the Wahs having elite rep calibre starting middles + middles who would start at any other club on their bench, that becomes an advantage that’s way more amplified now than it usually is. They can pretty much roll forward at will. Gapping the other mob through the middle solves every problem.

I do think the Roosters at least have the pack to neutralise the Warriors and not get absolutely rolled, and they have way more class in the spine, so it’s their comp to lose. But the Wahs winning it all wouldn’t surprise me.

The Sharks have really blown a great chance this year because they’re the other team that can really roll teams up the guts.

Going forward there’ll be even more scarcity. The Bears roster sucks but they’ve taken a handful more decent to good rotation forwards off the table. And I dread to think who PNG are gonna get with their tax free money after Hudson Young.

I know a lot of us hate the Marata Niukore signing but I still read it like POS getting out ahead of the problem. The whole point was that it’s not a signature other clubs would be competing for to drive his price up. A guy who can cover any position in the pack besides hooker on about a standard salary in an inflated market. Aside from Marata his emphasis was on young guys who’ll be good forwards a couple years down the track. I think we’ll be one of the sides with a quality rotation and decent depth over the next few years.
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People forget that the wahs steamrolled the chooks in rd 1. If you compare the wahs win against the riff vs the chooks, the difference is night and day. They monstered penrith physically and then systematically tore apart their edges. Chooks scraped an ugly win against a riff side that was just off their game. Wahs are a much better team than people give them credit for. If they do end up winning it all, they really do deserve it. They are on their 4th string halfback, their 2nd string fullback, probably their third/4th string centers with Halasima and Pompey and are currently leading the comp.

As for Marata, I don't think we should read too much into it. He would walk into most starting packs in the comp. It's just a reflection of how crazy their middle depth is.
 
Yeah the Wahs can definitely do it.

My only reservations:

- Capewell is a big defensive weakness.
- If they pick Metcalf at 7 over Martin. I like Te Maire more as a player even with his mediocre kicking game, and he’s a much better defender.

But yeah there’s an argument MITCHELL BARNETT is their worst starting middle. That’s a serious pack. Go forward whenever they want it.
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
Yeah the Wahs can definitely do it.

My only reservations:

- Capewell is a big defensive weakness.
- If they pick Metcalf at 7 over Martin. I like Te Maire more as a player even with his mediocre kicking game, and he’s a much better defender.

But yeah there’s an argument MITCHELL BARNETT is their worst starting middle. That’s a serious pack. Go forward whenever they want it.
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I was disappointed that Barnett didn't come back to us after announcing the compassionate release at the beginning of this year. Would take him back in a heart beat. They have an international/SOO quality starting pack. But a lot of teams have good starting packs. What sets them apart is that bench. They are all 20-21, have double barreled names and run like their lives depend on it. People forget here that Francis M was in their junior system.

They are the ultimate physical test in this comp. We need to go up several levels next week because they turn it up several gears at home and we need to remember their last home game they monstered the riff like they were an u8s side. Bit worried we might decide to throw the game knowing we make finals either way and probably still get a home final given the bunnies tough run home. Getting toweled up in our final test isn't what we want heading into finals.
 
Yeah Fish/Barnett/Clark isn't as good as Fish/Leota/Yeo (but it's closer than any other starting middle trio I've seen this decade besides Haas/Flegler/Carrigan maybe).

But then when we get to finals their bench rotation will probably be Ford/Stowers-Smith/one out of Vaimauga & Ieremia-Toeava... yuck. All four of those guys would start for us over Crokes :lol:

Probably the best bench since the 2020 Melbourne Storm?
 
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